In observance of the Holy Week, the Philippine News Agency’s online news service will be off on March 29, Good Friday, and March 30, Black Saturday. Normal operations will resume on March 31, Easter Sunday.

— The Editors

Leyte floods drown teen, displace thousands of families

By Sarwell Meniano

February 11, 2021, 12:46 pm

<p><strong>MASSIVE FLOODING.</strong> Rescuers in the middle of a heavily flooded highway in Palo, Leyte on Wednesday (Feb. 10, 2021). Flooding has drowned a 15-year-old boy and displaced thousands of families in Leyte province as water inundated low-lying communities. <em>(Photo courtesy of Fran Co)</em></p>

MASSIVE FLOODING. Rescuers in the middle of a heavily flooded highway in Palo, Leyte on Wednesday (Feb. 10, 2021). Flooding has drowned a 15-year-old boy and displaced thousands of families in Leyte province as water inundated low-lying communities. (Photo courtesy of Fran Co)

TACLOBAN CITY – A teenage boy drowned while thousands of families in Leyte were displaced as flooding inundated low-lying communities in the province on Wednesday.

Police identified the drowning victim as Kent Jamer Mandahuyan, 15, resident of Caloogan village in Palo, a town next to this city. The victim’s body was rescued early Thursday, hours after he was declared missing.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported that at least 2,515 families took shelter in designated evacuation centers while thousands more fled their homes as floodwater reached populated communities on Wednesday.

Flooding has affected 75 villages in Leyte and three villages in Eastern Samar province. Palo town in Leyte was the most badly-hit as the Binahaan River overflowed, flooding the highways and residential areas.

Massive flooding has been reported in the Leyte towns of Tabontabon, Dulag, La Paz, San Miguel, Sta. Fe, Pastrana, including this city. In Eastern Samar, the flood-hit towns are Jipapad and General MacArthur.

“Our local governments have been advised about the weather disturbance and the local disaster risk reduction and management councils have their preparedness plans, but they were overwhelmed by torrential rains,” said Rayden Cabrigas, OCD Eastern Visayas information officer, in a phone interview Thursday.

The low pressure area and the tail end of a cold front have dumped heavy rains in Eastern Visayas since Sunday, according to the state weather bureau. (PNA)

Comments